Little Red
by Sparkledust13
Summary: Ruby is wanting a change. She wants good to triumph evil and she wants to be the one to do that. Who will help her? Maybe Hook who she recently met. But is he the one to do it with him being well him?
1. Chapter 1

"Red, Little Red" Ruby jerked out of her stupor to see Leroy or Grumpy standing before her waving a hand in front of her to get her attention. She was standing behind the counter at Granny's staring out the window. "Sorry I guess I zoned out there for a minute" she said apologetically looking towards the window. "What, did you see a squirrel" he asked jokingly. "Ha-ha, so what did you need?" she asked. "Just a refill on my coffee before I head out." "You guys still mining for fairy dust?" she asked curiously. "Yeah, not that there's really much of a point now." "Yeah" Ruby agreed "with king George burning Jefferson's hat and not that we really have much of a home to go to anyhow it being destroyed and all" Ruby said pouring Leroy's coffee. "It just goes to show that no matter what land you're in evil will always win" Leroy said angrily. "Well it is an advantage when you don't play by the rules" Ruby said, Leroy agreed with her before leaving the diner.

Ruby walked into the back to get some of the meat out of the freezer. She pulled down a bag that had hamburgers in it. Walking towards the door she noticed a few French fries scattered on the floor in the corner. She walked over and began to pick them up when she saw the bag they had been in was shredded. She knew it was leftover from the night she had turned, escaped and then been led to believe she had killed someone. She hurriedly threw it all in the trash and buried it not wanting to remember. Sure she hadn't killed anyone but the possibility that she could have or still could in the future is what haunted her.

Ruby grabbed the hamburgers, went out front where she saw Granny in a deep conversation with Archie. Ruby threw the hamburgers on the counter causing them both to look at her startled. "Something wrong Ruby?" Archie asked concerned. "No, I'm fine" she answered then thought for a moment and said "yeah actually there is something." They both gave her their full attention "we all know that our stories are out there, one version of it at least. Don't you ever wish that story was the real one, you know the disneyfied one." "You want me to get eaten by a wolf?" Granny asked laughing. "Some days yeah" Ruby said jokingly then more seriously "I don't want to be the wolf. I don't want to have killed my boyfriend. I want to have been rescued by the lumberjack. I know I'm not a princess, I wasn't saved by a prince and I don't need or want to be." "What do you want?" Archie asked quietly. "Sometimes it would be nice to be rescued or to rescue myself, for good to triumph evil, for a happy ending" she finished breathlessly. They both stared at her for a minute before Archie broke the silence "if you ever need to come talk to me about any of this my door is always open" he told her kindly. She smiled at him gratefully "thanks I think I just needed to vent for a minute there, I'm okay now thanks" she said hoping they'd believe her. Neither one looked too convinced, Archie left having to get back to get back to his office. Granny took a step toward Ruby "good will triumph evil sometimes it just takes a little longer" she told her reassuringly. She gave a loving tug of Ruby's hair and went back to work making Ruby feel slightly better at least she would always have her Granny so she'd never be alone.


	2. Your reputation proceeds you

Later that night Ruby was the one to close up the diner. Once she made sure everything was in order she put on her hat, coat and scarf and turned out all the lights before stepping out into the freezing cold air. The wind blew her hair around while she hurriedly locked the door and went on her way. She walked quickly down the street eager to get out of the freezing cold. Her breath came out in puffs before her, hanging there for a moment as if frozen itself before disappearing. She was walking so fast and paying so little attention that when her foot hit the ice patch she had no chance. She wobbled for a minute before falling flat on her back. She felt awful and just wanted to cry but instead began to laugh and once she started she couldn't stop.

After she lay there for a few minutes a shadow came over her. She looked up and saw the figure of a man and it wasn't until he stepped into the light that she got a good look at him. She hadn't seen him before, he was tall with dark hair and a beard. His clothes were as if he were from her world but hadn't changed into Storybrooke. But the most important thing was how good-looking he was and he was extremely good-looking. "Need a hand?" he asked, she nodded and he reached down to help her only she saw not a hand but a hook. She groaned annoyed and began to pull herself up, she knew exactly who this was. "I'm okay" she said angrily "what could I have done to offend you so easily on our first meeting?" he asked casually. "Let's just say your reputation proceeds you" he smiled "glad to hear it." She began walking again at the same pace as before, he followed her at a more casual speed but was still somehow able to keep up with her. "Yours does too you know, Little Red Riding Hood" he said her name slowly putting spaces between the words. "Tell me am I in any danger or have you already filled up on chickens and small rodents?" he asked. She whirled around angrily to face him "really wolf jokes, that's rich coming from you." He smiled and took a step towards her "have I got you all hot-blooded?" he asked flirtatiously. She rolled her eyes, turned around and resumed walking. He laughed "wow I really know how to get under your skin." She tried to ignore him and kept walking. "I'm just going to keep following you until you give me what I want." It was true he hadn't stopped following her. She groaned "okay, fine, what do you want?" He laughed "you really want to get rid of me or maybe" he took a step towards her "you just want to spend more time with me" "No, you got it right the first time." "I need your help" he told her. "Okay, what do you need?" "That's it, when I need you, I want you to help me" he told her, it didn't sound too bad. "Okay" she answered about to give him a whole list of restrictions but he disappeared before she could even say the first one. She shook her head in disbelief and continued on her way on the lookout for Hook or anybody else she didn't really want to see.


	3. I knew you couldn't stay away from me

After a long day Ruby finally settled into bed exhausted mentally and physically but couldn't sleep because she couldn't stop thinking about Hook. When morning finally came she hurriedly dressed for work and got herself to the diner just in time for her shift to start. "You look a little rushed" she heard Emma say as she was hurriedly throwing her coat on the rack. She turned to see Emma and Henry sitting at the counter looking and looking at her a little concerned. "It's okay, just a rough night" she told them trying to be nonchalant. "The kind of rough night that can be talked about in front of a nine year old?" Emma asked concerned looking at Henry out of the corner of her eye. "The kind of rough night where nothing seems to go your way." "Ooh, been there done that" Emma told her sympathetically. Ruby walked behind the counter and then a thought occurred to her. "Where do you think Hook's staying?" she asked Emma. "Not sure, why?" Emma asked confused. "No reason" Ruby said quickly, shaking her head. "I don't know but I sure would like to, he's not exactly someone that we want to lose track of" Emma said in an authoritive voice. "Yeah I know what you mean" Ruby agreed with her. "Well kid it's time for you to get to school" Emma said ruffling Henry's hair, she put some money on the counter and the two of them exited the diner.

A the end of the lunch rush when things finally began to slow down Granny told Ruby she could go take some time off, just to be back when lunch started. She began to wonder down the street half-heartedly when she remembered something important and began to run. Before long she was knocking on Archie's office door and in 30 seconds he answered it. "Hey, you busy?" she asked in a rush. "No, the person I was supposed to see not canceled, is everything alright?" he asked concerned. "Oh, everything's fine, I just wanted to ask you something." He made a gesture for her to do so and she began "so when Hook had you kidnapped where were you?" "I was tied up in the down below of his ship." Ruby was confused "his ship? Where is it? There haven't been any new ships in the harbor, that would be a really big deal everyone would have known about it." "Cora put some kind of enchantment on it to make it invisible to everyone." It all made sense "thanks" she told Archie "I have to get back to the diner, you know Granny I can't even be a minute late. Thanks again I'll see you around" and Ruby hurried out of his office leaving Archie very confused.

Ruby went straight to the docks, there were no ships in sight when she got there. She walked slowly listening for the sound of a ship she knew just had to be there but what she heard wasn't that but the sound of laughter. She walked in that direction slowly until she found the platform and began to walk up. Once she was on board she was able to see the entire ship and looked around until she found Hook. There he was sitting next to the wheel of the ship with Drusilla one of Cinderella's stepsisters and they were laughing while sharing a drink. "Am I interrupting something" Ruby asked with her arms folded. They looked at her Hook smirked saying "not at all, care to join us?" Drusilla gave her the once over that girls give each other when it comes to guys and glared at her. "No thanks, just wanted to know that I could find you" she said and turned around and left. "I knew you couldn't stay away from me" she heard Hook say but all she could be was roll her eyes and smile.


	4. I knew you just had to see me

Later that evening as Ruby was closing up the diner she heard the door open. "We're closed" she yelled without looking up from the table she was wiping down with a dishcloth. When nobody answered she looked up "what are you doing here" she asked pleasantly surprised. "Just thought I'd come and get some good food, better than anything I'd make" Dr. Whale said with a smile. "Sorry I didn't realize you guys would be closed, this crazy work schedule of mine this week has me all confused, I'll leave, see you around" he said turning to the door. "No, no It's okay I can get you whatever you want" she replied hurriedly. "Are you sure?" he asked "I don't want to put you to any trouble." "I'm sure, it's no trouble, anything for the town's favorite doctor" she told him smiling and he smiled back. "I don't know about favorite" he said with a laugh. "I do" she said softly then quickly said "so what is it exactly that I can get for you?" "Well" he paused for a minute seeming to be thinking "it's been pretty cold so I think I'll take some soup." "Alright what kind do you want?" "Whatever is fine, it's all good" she laughed "I'll get you some broccoli cheddar it's still pretty warm." She began walking over to get it when she heard a beeping noise and Dr. Whale pulled out his pager. Looking at it he groaned and said "can you make that to go?" he asked apologetically. "Yeah, no problem" she said disappointed. She hurriedly spooned some in a to go container and carried it out putting the lid on. The money was laying on the counter and as she handed him the container their fingers touched and he gently pulled her close to him and kissed her softly on the lips for a minute. After he pulled away "I'll see you around" he said smiling. "Yeah" she said happily.

She went back to her cleaning when 30 seconds later the door opened again. She could barely suppress her smile but when she turned and saw who it was she had no trouble at all. "Hook" she said annoyed "we're closed so you need to leave." "That's funny" Hook said "you didn't seem to be turning away that doctor, in fact you seemed to be offering him all of your services" he said suggestively. She gave him a dirty look "why are you here?" "Because I knew you just had to see me" he said smiling and taking a step towards her. With her face void of any emotion she took a step back. "Well" he said in a businesslike manner "I need your help so it's time to go." "What? Now?" she exclaimed incredulously "I can't just go. I have things to do. I have responsibilities!" "Well a deal's a deal and I'm sure someone can be found to clean up this mess. Just call up your woodland friends have them do it and let's go." She gave him a dirty look "I don't do that." She walked behind the counter and after throwing her dishrag in the sink began to look for her coat. "I can't find my coat" she said annoyed. "That's alright" Hook said "I have many ways to keep you warm" he said smiling with a raised eyebrow. She rolled her eyes and thankfully found her coat under the counter behind the condiments. She hurriedly put it on walking towards Hook and the door "let's just get this over with" she said annoyed. "After you" he said kindly opening the door for her. She looked at him surprised "what I can't be a gentleman?" he asked with a kind, half smile.


	5. I was going to bring you along dearie

Pretty soon they were back on Hook's ship. "So what is it exactly that we're going to do?" she asked him. "Well let's go below deck and I'll tell you." "Umm, why does it have to be below deck?" she asked suspiciously. "Because if someone walks by they won't hear us talking if we're down below." "Alright" she said reluctantly following him down the stairs. Once they were down there she saw a half-lit room and the little furniture that was in there was wooden. "Ever heard of a cushion?" she asked looking around the tiny room not wanting to sit on the hard wooden benches. ""Heard of them just don't need them" he said handing her a glass of water. He sat down on one of the benches gesturing for her to sit across from him which she reluctantly did. "Alright here's the deal" he told her seriously. "I'm looking for a way for me to get out of Storybrooke and back to our world." "That's it?" she asked a little let down that was all "that's what everybody else in town is trying to do." "No I don't think you quite understand, what I said was I'm looking for a way for _me_, I'm not planning on bringing everybody else along in fact I'd rather they stay here and have them all back in their boring Storybrooke stupor." "You're talking about bringing back the curse" he nodded "and you want me to help you with that?" "Exactly." "What makes you think I would curse all of my friends, my family, myself, sorry but I'm not going to do that" she exclaimed. "Well I was going to bring you along dearie." "Oh yeah that makes it so much better" she told him sarcastically. She got up and started to leave but then remembered something that made her turn around causing Hook to smile. "If you re-enact the curse won't everyone who stayed behind in our world be frozen in time just like the last time the curse was enacted?" "Not exactly that curse was for all of our land and Cora counteracted that curse by freezing that portion of our land. It would be a whole new curse one just for Storybrooke." "What you're doing is horrible and we'll stop you" she said angrily, all he did was smile at her. She got up hurriedly and rushed out the door knowing she had to gather the others to help her stop Hook.


End file.
